


His Favorite Christmas Story

by StarlightDragon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Christmas, Dancing, Fluff and Angst, Ice Skating, Love at First Sight, M/M, Memories, Pining, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 18:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5509217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightDragon/pseuds/StarlightDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel and Sam met once at a party on Christmas Eve when they were young and spent the night together, but Gabriel left before Sam woke and he's spent the rest of his life telling everyone he meets about the boy with beautiful eyes that he loved from the moment he saw him - only to run into Sam again at the most unexpected moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Favorite Christmas Story

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a songfic for His Favorite Christmas Story by Capital Lights which is a song I play every day in December and it never fails to make me cry, and this year I haven't been able to get the idea of a Sabriel AU of it out of my head. Italic parts of the fic are the lyrics (not mine) and all other words are mine. Because I included all the lyrics, I don't think you necessarily have to know the song to read the fic, but there's a link here if you would like to.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxPENnSuNQw
> 
> Also, please don't hate me for this.

_He met him up in Delaware in 1997,_

_he was wearing red cufflinks to match his bow tie_

_December 24 bout a quarter to eleven's_

_when I finally gained the courage to ask him to dance._

Gabriel loved a lot of things. He loved candy. He loved getting dressed up for no reason. He loved throwing glitter onto everything. He loved getting drunk. He loved hitting on random, attractive strangers at parties. He loved giving people extravagant presents, and even more than that, he loved receiving extravagant presents. And all these things added up to one inescapable fact.

Gabriel Novak really fucking loved Christmas. 

It was an excuse to do everything he loved and blame it entirely on the holiday season, and that wasn't something he was going to pass up in a hurry. Sure, the music got annoying after a while, and yes, he could do without the cold that made him have to bundle himself up like a snowman whenever he left the house, but aside from that, he could definitely get behind this whole Christmas thing.

He didn't really have any regular plans. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in the same place for two Christmases in a row. He supposed it might have happened when he was a kid, but his family was never together enough for him to notice, and even if the place was the same, the situation was different. When he'd left and started traveling, all he'd wanted was to keep moving, to get further and further away.

But the one constant was the fact that he always went out on Christmas Eve. He found a crowd of revelers who looked friendly and open to having more people join them, he met people around him, he had a great night with a hundred people that he'd forget the name of the next day, and he didn't sleep before Christmas morning. Because really, Christmas was the anticipation. Christmas Day itself was never all that great - the fun part was the countdown, the point where you bounce in your seat with anticipation trying to wait for Christmas itself to start, dreaming of everything that could possibly happen this year. Why would Gabriel bother sleeping when the alternative was being able to enjoy that anticipation for a little bit longer?

This year the party Gabriel found was ice skating, on an outdoor rink in the middle of town. People whizzed around the ice rink on their skates, showing off in their sparkly outfits, performing tricks, while others stayed towards the sidelines, gripping onto the rails or onto their partners' hands, all bundled up in mittens. Still more spectated, watching from the sidelines with a warm cup of apple cider or hot chocolate clutched in their hands, letting out the occasional 'ooh!' when someone did something particularly impressive on the ice, or more likely, when somebody fell over. And a final few were playing music, giving the night its own soundtrack, singing classic Christmas carols that they'd given their own twist to and waving around sparklers in the general vicinity so that the occasional burst of light left its imprint on the sky.

It was perfect. It was exactly what Gabriel had been looking for.

_It was the night before Christmas, it was love at first sight_

_The carolers sang as they danced through the night_

_Sam was a small town boy, Gabe was a traveling guy_

_He never caught his name before they said their goodbyes._

Gabriel took his turn on the rink, trying to do a few twirls of his own but failing miserably and falling on his ass within the first thirty seconds of skating. The people around him laughed and he rolled his eyes at them, standing up on his skates shakily and inviting them to join him and see if they could do better. Nobody took him up on the offer, so Gabriel tried to move away, and succeeded in losing his balance and falling down again for a second time, hitting his ankle hard on the cold ice.

He took a moment getting his bearings after the sudden rush of cold air past his head, and when he looked up there was a man standing over him, grinning, holding out a hand. He was wearing skates of the same kind that Gabriel was; the hired ones from the booth off to the side, and he was wearing three or four layers of plaid shirts, scarves and coats. He didn't look like a professional skater at all, and Gabriel worried that if he accepted his help, they'd both go tumbling down again.

But Gabriel was also a little selfish, and he was more than happy to admit that. And he quite wanted to feel that big strong hand in his own and to get a closer look at the twinkling hazel eyes. So he stretched out his own hand and felt himself be lifted up off his feet, actually losing all contact with the ground for a moment before the man's other hand came down on his waist and placed him neatly back on the rink. He kept hold of his hand as the two of them skated to the entryway, and then Gabriel turned to thank the man, but he'd already started talking to a group of his friends, all of whom looked around college age.

Gabriel walked to a stand close by and bought himself a cup of mulled wine from a vendor, and as he sipped it, he watched the boy and his friends. Well, just the boy, if he was completely honest. He was really, really, really beautiful, and Gabriel wished he had a chance to just stare at him for a while, to stand right beside him and unashamedly drink in his looks, because if just a few seconds of contact could make Gabriel’s heart pound quite like this, then what the hell would happen if he was given as much time as he wanted?

A little after ten, the skate rink closed and the music grew louder. A cover was drawn over the rink and a disco ball switched on and the place became a dancefloor; many of the revelers taking each other’s hands and leading each other into the center to get lost in the music. Gabriel distinctly noticed the boy he had his eye on sneak glances towards the dancing pairs and groups, but stay deliberately to the edge of things, tapping his foot in time with the beat but not getting any more involved.

Gabriel wanted to dance, but he didn’t want to dance alone. And although plenty of people were sneaking him looks which suggested that they might be interested in asking him – he really couldn’t fathom paying attention to anybody other than his savior from earlier.

Not that asking him was going to be easy.

Gabriel bought a second glass of mulled wine and downed it in one. This was his only chance. He was never normally this nervous around people no matter how attracted he was to them – the worst that could happen would be that he could get rejected, and then he’d move onto a new town with even more attractive people and he’d never see the other person again. But for some reason, he felt like this time was different. It wouldn’t be so easy for him to handle rejection from this guy.

But if he didn’t do this now, then somebody else would be sure to swoop in there, and then Gabriel would really hate himself. So he ran a hand through his hair and pretended he was confident as he sauntered over there and offered his hand to the boy; giving him the chance to hold hands for the second time today.

After a brief pause during which the guy grinned at Gabriel with only the left side of his mouth, he reached out and accepted Gabriel’s hand, and the two of them walked together to the dancefloor.

They danced to slow songs, and they danced to fast songs, and they danced to so many songs that Gabriel couldn’t remember when they started and if they were ever going to stop. And when the songs finally ended and the party wrapped up, Gabriel couldn’t see any plan of action other than to keep clinging to the guy’s hand, leaping after him until they reached the guy’s house and fell down onto a soft mattress together, doing nothing but whispering secrets into each other’s ears alternated with soft kisses on each other’s lips. At some point talk had to become sleep, but they both tried to fight it for as long as they possibly could, not wanting to lose the magic of the night; the magic that Gabriel was sure stemmed from the way Sam’s eyes shone in the light of the lamp in the corner whenever he leaned forward to say something particularly enthralling. Gabriel had never met somebody quite as interesting as Sam. Even the most mundane details of Sam's life didn't bore Gabriel, for some reason, and all he wanted was to learn more.

Gabriel wasn't sure what the name of this feeling was.

He woke up the following day around lunchtime with his head pressed against somebody’s chest and an arm slung over his waist, and for a brief few seconds he let himself appreciate the fact that he had never been this warm and comfortable, ever.

And then he reminded himself that he was a traveler. He wasn’t supposed to be warm and comfortable. He was supposed to get up and see as much of the world as possible; meet as many people as he could in the time that he had. And it wouldn’t do to stay here any longer, no matter how much he could imagine spending days, weeks, maybe even longer wrapped in the embrace of this guy and exchanging thoughts on the world around them.

Unwillingly, Gabriel wriggled out of the tight grip he was held in and smacked his thoughts out of his own head. He gathered his few possessions and tiptoed out of the house, feeling oddly small and lost as he did so.

_A couple years later Gabe was out on the road_

_Having Christmas dinner in a diner alone_

_When he saw a young waitress with a gleam in her eye_

_Her favorite day of the year, she showed her spirits were high._

Gabriel was used to eating alone. It always got to him a tiny bit more on Christmas than it did the rest of the year; but he didn’t mind too much. Even when his Christmas dinner ended up being less turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce and more bacon, eggs and waffles. Yes, it was unconventional, but he was always sure to make up for it with the other things he did over the holidays.

On this particular Christmas, he was sat in a small diner at a roadside rest area, having decided to drive from town to town on Christmas morning when there was no traffic. He glanced around the room to see if there were any interesting faces, or anyone else eating alone that he might be able to make conversation with, and his eyes fell on a young blonde waitress with sparkling eyes and a pretty smile, dancing around the room with a tray of coffee in her hand.

Gabriel supposed it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he stayed here overnight and went home with her. The roads would still be quiet tomorrow.

_She said, 'Sir, can you share a little holiday cheer?'_

_A simple Christmas story's all she wanted to hear_

_He looked prepared with a smile as he started to say_

_'Here's my favorite Christmas story about a boy with no name.'_

Gabriel waved the waitress over, and she twirled between the tables on her way to meet him at his table in the window. She first offered him a refill on coffee, which he accepted, and then pulled out her pad of paper, asking him if there was anything else she could do for him.

He replied no, he only wanted to wish her a Merry Christmas.

She studied him for a moment, as though she was trying to figure out what his intentions really were, and then she pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. Leaning across the table conspiratorially, she told him that he looked like a guy who had a few good Christmas stories, and since it wasn’t busy, she asked if he might be able to share one with her.

_He said, 'I met him up in Delaware in 1997,_

_he was wearing red cufflinks to match his bow tie_

_December 24 bout a quarter to eleven's_

_when I finally gained the courage to ask him to dance.'_

Gabriel was more than happy to oblige. He wasn’t old, but he’d already accumulated a great collection of unique and entertaining stories, and what was the point in having those if he didn’t get the chance to share them with people; to see their reactions to all the things that had happened to him? Gabriel cast his mind back for the perfect Christmas memory to talk about.

A smile played over his face as a boy with long brown hair and the kindest eyes Gabriel had ever seen floated back into his mind, and as the events played themselves back to him, he couldn’t believe he’d never told anyone before. He supposed that for maximum effect, the story should only be told at this time of year, but still – why hadn’t he last year? Most of the people he’d met didn’t actually factor into his thoughts a great deal, but for some reason, this guy was an exception. Gabriel would find himself thinking of his Christmas date whenever he passed an ice rink, or whenever he saw someone particularly tall. Usually, one of Gabriel’s favorite parts of travelling was the fact that he’d get to meet people, to spend time with them and learn what made them amazing, but that he wouldn’t have the time for anything else. He wouldn’t have to deal with their flaws or the fights or the boring parts of a relationship, and that was just the way he wanted it. And yet, something about this guy… Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he’d decided to stick around for a while.

But of course, it was far too late now. Even if Gabriel showed up with fucking red roses or something, the chances that this guy would even remember dancing with him were slim to none. So he focused on telling the story, painting the picture of the night as best he could, trying to put everything he had into it, trying to make the waitress feel like she was the one there, head spinning from the dancing and the beautiful eyes gazing into her own.

When Gabriel was done with the story, he brought himself back to the present moment. The waitress was still looking at him, but the expression on her face was different now. Gone was the flirty interest of before; and now she looked – not pitying exactly, but sympathetic. Like she understood even the parts of the story that he hadn’t said aloud. And when she took Gabriel’s hand in her own and asked him if he missed him, Gabriel knew for certain that there was no way she’d take him home after her shift.

Gabriel expected to be sad that he’d lost his chance with her, but somehow, he wasn’t.

_Every holiday season as he traveled he'd tell_

_bout his Christmas dance partner that he never knew well_

_He'd share his favorite story with the locals he met_

_He was called the Christmas Story Telling Traveling Man._

From that point on; Gabriel made a point of reciting the story to at least one person each year. Sometimes he’d tell a big group; sometimes it would be one on one. Sometimes they’d think it was a happy story, sometimes they’d find it sad. The occasional person even cried. Everybody’s reaction was different, and Gabriel loved to try to read people before he started speaking; to guess what their reaction was going to be like. He loved it even more when they managed to surprise him.

But the biggest surprise of all came the first time he began to speak to a pair of girls he was talking to in a bar, and the two of them had looked at each other, and excitedly exclaimed that they knew the story already.

Gabriel had been so shocked he couldn’t speak for a second, and considering how much he usually had to say, that was a really huge deal. As soon as he regained his speech, he asked them how they could possibly know the story already – he’d never been to this town before; and he didn’t recognize them at all. They casually replied that they’d heard it from friends, who had heard it from other friends, and that the story in general had travelled far and wide.

Gabriel had never expected that he’d be well known for anything; least of all the simple tale of falling in love at first sight on Christmas Eve - for he'd come up with a name for the feeling now; one he still didn't even want to admit.

_By age fifty-three he had done, settled down_

_All the neighborhood kids liked to gather around_

_Just to listen to his stories bout his life on the road_

_All he had now were these children he told._

Gabriel wasn’t sure what it was that finally made him stop travelling. Perhaps it was the way his knees protested at spending so much of his time driving around, or the fact that it was difficult to keep up with his indigestion medication when his schedule was as erratic as it was when he never knew where he was going to be from night to night, or the fact that he needed so much more sleep than he used to, and found himself dreaming of his own house, one he could come back to night after night and make into a home.

There was no greater cosmic meaning to the neighborhood he finally chose. He just arrived there one day, settled into a motel, and realized as he explored the main street that the town was nice and had just about everything he was looking for. It was small; lots of trees and nice views, lots of coffee shops for people watching, and it had its own station so Gabriel could get easily into the city if he wanted. So he didn’t wait any longer, or look around for anywhere better. The following day, he wandered residential neighborhoods until he found a For Rent sign, and by that night, he’d signed a lease.

He quickly made himself known in the neighborhood; and while some people were understandably wary about trusting him at first, especially around their kids, it wasn’t too long until people began to see him as an essentially harmless old man. One who spent hours in the summer sitting in his back yard gazing up at the sky and at all the places he had yet to explore, or who whiled away his days strolling around the park with an expression on his face suggesting his thoughts were somewhere else entirely, or whose kitchen could always be relied on to be stacked with sweet foods that he was always happy to share with the locals. It was this last point in particular that made him popular with the kids who lived close by, who would often drop round on their way home from school for a slice of cake and a story.

_And every Christmas Eve they showed up before dark_

_He'd tell them all the story but they knew it by heart_

_They could quote it word for word; he always told it the same_

_It was his favorite Christmas story called 'the boy with no name.'_

Usually, the kids would come alone or in small groups, and there would be plenty of room for everyone in Gabriel’s living room. The only exception to that would be on Christmas Eve, when as the sun started to go down and the adults started to turn on the lights strung up around the houses, Gabriel’s doorbell would ring and a mass of children would descend upon him, storming their way into his house and sitting on any available surface. Gabriel had the best Christmas decorations of all, of course – both the inside and the outside of his house sparkled with the colors of the season, drawing visitors from miles around, and it wouldn’t be uncommon for a string of tinsel to end up around somebody’s neck, or a Christmas wreath to be balanced on someone’s head.

And Gabriel would talk for hours and hours, until his throat was sore from all of his stories, but he’d keep going until the very last one. He had a lot of Christmas stories, but he knew which one they were here for most of all, and he always saved it for last. Some of the younger kids might have fallen asleep, but their friends would poke them, and for this final story they would sit up and huddle around, leaning forward to catch every word of the story they already knew.

_He said 'I met him up in Delaware in 1997_

_He was wearing red cufflinks to match his bow tie_

_December 24, bout a quarter to eleven's_

_when I finally gained the courage to ask him to dance.'_

Gabriel’s voice cracked during the last story from a combination of the hours spent talking and the emotion of the story, and he always had to take several breaks for a quick drink of water, but it didn’t matter. The kids would chant the story along with him and they’d keep going when Gabriel stopped, filling in the gaps for him, and he’d just pick up when he was ready. He often thought that he should just leave them to tell it themselves; that they didn’t even need him there for this part, and that he should sit back and relax and enjoy listening to the story for a change. But he loved telling it so much, and he could never resist the chance to talk about the boy with the beautiful hazel eyes.

At the end of the night, Gabriel would bundle himself up in a thick coat and walk all the kids back to their own houses, making sure they all got home safely in time for Christmas morning with their families. Then, he’d wander back home alone, the air unnaturally still and quiet without the children’s cries, and every year he’d find himself wishing he had someone – anyone – to spend the holiday itself with.

A familiar face would filter into his thoughts; but he’d push it away. It was insane that he still remembered him after such a long time. There was no way this guy remembered Gabriel after half a lifetime, and anyway, Gabriel had probably built the guy up in his head just by telling the story so many times to people. If it hadn’t been for the story, Gabriel wasn’t sure he’d remember him either.

Had their night together even been that great?

_And twenty years later as he took his last breath_

_Saw a cold Christmas morning in a hospital bed_

_The children had grown; he had nobody left_

_except the little old nurse who was holding his hand._

Through it all, Gabriel tried never to give too much thought to how it would all end. He was far too busy living to consider how that would eventually stop. And yet now he found himself lying between cool white sheets, barely able to move, wheezing with every breath that he took, his lungs on the point of giving up for good. It had been going on for a few weeks now, and Gabriel knew that it couldn't be much longer.

He supposed it only made sense that it would happen at Christmas. He'd never lost the little thrill that went through him the first time each year he saw a set of holiday lights switch on, or saw a brightly colored Christmas tree through a stranger's window.

He'd had no visitors yet and he didn't anticipate any, because even after he'd settled down, nobody had seen him as anything more than a quirky neighborhood landmark, but one particular nurse seemed to have taken a shine to him. He was old, probably almost as old as Gabriel, and seemed out of place among the staff, but in a way, that meant he understood. He probably didn't have long left himself, so there was something more personal about the way he interacted with his patients - and for reasons Gabriel couldn't understand, the nurse seemed to spend more time with Gabriel than with anyone.

_He said, 'Sir, could you share a little holiday cheer?'_

_A simple Christmas story's all he wanted to hear_

_But his eyes filled with tears at the worlds he spoke_

_because his favorite Christmas story was the one that he told._

On Christmas morning, the nurse came in and the first thing he did was to switch on the colored fairy lights that Gabriel had specifically requested to have strung up around the ceiling. The nurse himself had a small sprig of mistletoe pinned to the pocket on his uniform, just below his name tag. It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Gabriel smile despite the pain in his chest as the nurse pulled a chair over to him, took his hand and asked how he was feeling today.

But Gabriel didn't want to talk about how he was feeling today. If he didn't have long, he didn't want to waste that time discussing it. It was Christmas, after all, and he'd spent a very long time telling stories to other people, and far less time listening. It was about time he fixed that.

So he asked the nurse to tell him his own favorite Christmas story.

The nurse's face immediately changed, and all of a sudden he had a faraway look in his eyes, nostalgic, as though he wasn't looking at Gabriel but instead seeing something that happened a long time ago. Something bittersweet.

_Sam said, 'I met him up in Delaware in 1997,_

_though I never caught his name, he was a traveling guy_

_December 24, bout a quarter til eleven_

_I'm so glad he got the courage to ask me to dance.'_

Gabriel listened to the story; to the nurse’s favorite Christmas story, and as he listened he felt it more clearly than he ever had before. He felt as though he was back there, dancing on the closed off ice rink with the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. It felt real, and the pain in Gabriel’s lungs melted and he felt like he’d be able to leap up right now and take this man’s hand and they’d skip away from here together. They’d be young again, and Gabriel would have a second chance to stay in the morning. He wouldn’t get scared that if he stayed in one place for too long, he’d be forced to settle down and stop having adventures, because being with this guy would be an adventure – the one adventure that Gabriel had never yet been on. He could admit it freely to himself now - he loved this man, had ever since their eyes had met on the ice rink, as impossible as it sounded. And he should have tried harder to find him before now.

Gabriel looked up at the nurse’s eyes, and how had he not seen it before? The soft hazel was clouded over with old age, but it was just as full of life as it had been the first time Gabriel had seen it, all those years ago.

When the nurse had finished talking, Gabriel glanced up at his name tag. He squinted through the tears in his eyes to make out a single word.

“Sam,” he whispered.

The nurse glanced up in surprise. “Yes?”

“I- I never knew your name before.”

“I’ve been wearing this name tag every day since you’ve been admitted to hospital.”

Gabriel sat up in bed – the pain had returned, but he pushed through it. “No. I mean – back, years ago, when I danced with you on Christmas Eve and then lay in bed all night talking. Back then, you never told me your name.”

“That was you?”

“Been telling people about you my entire life, kid.”

“Yeah. So have I. Everyone I ever knew.”

Gabriel slumped back with his head on the pillows, because it was getting to be too much effort to hold himself up. “I wish I could say it was never too late to try to make things work.” That was what he’d liked to tell people as he travelled – that it was never too late for them to go on adventures too. “But… I think maybe this time, it is too late.”

A tear dripped down Sam’s cheek, and Gabriel lifted a shaking hand to brush it away.

“I’m usually good at knowing what to say to patients right at the end. But you’re different. I have no idea what to say here.”

“It’s okay. You already said enough, back when we were young.”

They stared into each other’s eyes, both of them aware of how little time they had left and how much they wanted to fill it with and how they had no idea at all how to fit it all in or where to start.

Sam leaned down and pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s forehead. He’d meant it to be just a quick kiss before he sat back up again, but Gabriel squeezed his hand tight at the touch and so Sam stayed where he was, resting his head next to Gabriel’s, bringing an arm to wrap around his waist.

Gabriel sighed into the touch, remembering the way it felt to lie in Sam’s arms all night the first time they’d met. He hadn’t felt anything like it since.

It felt just like he remembered.

Gabriel’s eyes fell softly closed, and his last thought was that he would never have to stop holding Sam ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> find me at **casandsip.tumblr.com** i don't post much but i always check messages  <3
> 
> also, i promise to post a much fluffier fic with a happier ending tomorrow.


End file.
